Music
Press
"...you almost feel that you've snuck into Cooney's room and are reading his diary.....at times just a lone guitar and voice so close you feel you can reach out and touch them." - Time Off
"....(Tom's) calming yet emotive voice wraps around his songs of heartbreak and hope like smoke from a winter fire." - The Courier Mail"
"Presque Vu is beautifully touching and prettily austere. Think Ryan Adams with fewer country roots or Fionn Regan with a smidgen more rock atmospherics. Think well worth having." - The Sydney Morning Herald
Discography
Hold Me Down (EP) 2006
Presque Vu (LP) 2008
Music streaming on
www.myspace.com/tomcooneymusic
www.tomcooney.com.au
Airplay in Australia via all the indies and ABC stations. Also on national radio station, Triple J.
Photos
Bio
Sitting on mismatched old outdoor cafe furniture, Tom can’t figure out what to write about himself. This is not unusual. He has a list, but that doesn’t help. He has a coffee, that doesn’t help either - he just writes badly faster. He decides that lack of ability is no reason to give up. His friends Denny and Helen are with him. Denny draws pictures and takes photos and Helen writes songs and sings them too. The three of them started a label, El Nino El Nino, to find the shortest possible route from the artist’s chest to the listener’s.
Tom quit his job to record and release a mini album about two years ago. People seemed to like it, he was suprised. He got to tour the country and play with two of his favourite artists, Fionn Regan and M. Ward. He also got to play at two great festivals, Splendour in the Grass and Homebake.
In between touring and renovating the new El Nino El Nino office Tom recorded songs for his debut album, Presque Vu. While the album sonically pivots on Tom’s guitar, lyrics and melodies, many friends added the spokes to roll Presque Vu along. Jamie Trevaskis recorded the songs and played saw and guitar, Corinna Scanlon sung, Whitley played lonesome cowboy guitar on a few songs, Simon and Ryan from Sub audible Hum played drums and keys, Tony Dupe played all sorts of things, McKisko played some piano and James from the Boat People played electric bass.
The songs on Presque Vu are different bricks from the same clay. Presque Vu means almost seen. It is the feeling of being on the edge of something extremely important but never quite stepping over, or truth that leaves as quickly as it arrives. Tom feels listening to a song or reading a book can be like looking into a mirror. Whether you have been longing for the reflection or avoiding it, there’s something in that spark of recognition that makes you feel real – if only for a moment.
Presque Vu available through El Nino El Nino and Inertia (Australia).
Press
“You almost feel that you've snuck into Cooney's room and are reading his diary.....at times just a lone guitar and voice so close you feel you can reach out and touch them." Time Off.
“(Tom's) calming yet emotive voice wraps around his songs of heartbreak and hope like smoke from a winter fire." - The Courier Mail
"Every now and again, a very special musician comes along whose gigs leave a room of people certain they have witnessed someone on the path to greatness. Such a musician is Tom Cooney" - Tsunami Mag
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